The present exemplary embodiments relate to barcode placement and decoding. They find particular application in conjunction with colored barcodes. In one embodiment, a plurality of colored barcodes are overprinted in the same area to store a greater amount of information within a one dimensional barcode space. However, it is to be appreciated that the present exemplary embodiments are also amenable to other like applications.
Barcodes are employed in a plurality of industries to provide an efficient and accurate means of inventory control. Generally, the barcode contains a plurality of bars and spaces within a field to designate a particular message. A barcode symbol typically consists of five parts: a first quiet zone, a start character, one or more data characters (including an optional check character), a stop character, and a second quiet zone. The message generally includes numbers and/or letters that are related to the product or device upon which the barcode is placed. Such bars can be read by a barcode reader or scanner to discern the information contained therein.
The mapping between a message and a barcode is referred to as a symbology. The specification of a symbology includes encoding of one or more digits and/or characters in the message as well as the start marker and the stop marker into bars and space. The quiet zone is generally required before and after the barcode as well as computation of the check character to insure the code was read correctly. Some symbologies utilize interleaving, wherein the first character is encoded utilizing black bars of varying width. The second character is then encoded, by varying the width of the white spaces between these bars. Thus, characters are encoded in pairs over the same section of the barcode as these one dimensional barcodes are printed in a single color (e.g. black). A barcode reader is then utilized to read the code.
Conventionally, readers employ a light output that is sensitive to the reflections from line and space thickness variation. The reader translates the reflected light into digital data that is transferred to a computer for immediate action or storage. One dimensional barcodes are limited in the amount of information stored therein by the size of the barcode. Such size can be dictated by available footprint on a product and/or container utilized therewith. As there are size restrictions for barcode size and information stored therein, there is a need for systems and methods to store a greater amount of information within a single barcode footprint.